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Danielle Wilder
Danielle Sapphire (née Wilder) is a recurring character on Saving Grace. Her backstory connects her to the Grace and Sapphire families. Biography Backstory Danielle was born in 1990 following an affair between tycoon William Grace and the young Gina Paquin. Her true paternity was concealed, and Danielle grew up believing she was the daughter of lower-class step-father Harry Wilder. Gina suffered a psychotic break in 2003, leading her to plant herself in William's life and later attempting to poison him and kidnap his wife. After a stint in a psychiatric facility followed by a prison sentencing, Gina revealed the truth to Danielle and Harry, fostering bitterness in Danielle and a desire to seek revenge on the wealthy Grace clan for living affluently while her mother suffered. Danielle graduated as valedictorian of her high school and attended a prestigious university where she joined a sorority and became close with sorority sister Sasha Vicario. Danielle would also met Steven Sapphire during this time; the two were drawn together over their shared resentment towards their families, and eventually married following Danielle's graduation, once more as valedictorian. Danielle earned her MBA and took work at Sapphire Enterprises, where she and Steven began plotting ways to dethrone William and father-in-law Richard Sapphire. 2020 - 2023 A pregnant Danielle joined Steven's family when Richard relocated Sapphire Enterprises to Graceland. Danielle and Steven kept Danielle's paternity a secret even from the other Sapphires, and Danielle supported the company in its rivalries with Grace, Forrester, Hamilton, Morris, and Teutul. She and Steven further set their sights on taking down Graceland's entire corporate elite. In the midst of their scheming, Danielle gives birth to the couple's first child, daughter Amanda Sapphire. Danielle plays a major behind-the-scenes role in Richard's ultimately unsuccessful attempt to purchase the Grace Corporation from CEO Mackenzie Forrester, greasing palms and blackmailing shareholders to secure stock. When Toby Grace and Katilyn Cochran, recently revealed as a Grace heir, prevent the sale, Danielle's bitterness is further fueled and she comes to identify Toby as a primary rival. Her pent-up ire finally breaks when Lola Grace is revealed to be alive. The subsequent unification of the Grace family, while Gina begins proceedings for early release, pushes Danielle to ultimately reveal her paternity to the world, leading to a mass scandal across Graceland. Danielle firmly establishes herself as an opponent to Toby, Katilyn, and Wendy Grace, while Steven contends with the Sapphires' anger. 2024 - To help further Steven, Danielle helps orchestrate Steven's twin sister and CEO Parker Sapphire into alcoholism. Meanwhile, sorority sister Sasha Vicario arrives to Graceland with a baby that carries Grace DNA. While Toby, Jade Casper, and Brock Grace struggle to decipher whether Toby might be the father, Danielle takes advantage of the situation to pass Sasha off as a secret twin sister in effort to uncover the truth. While Sasha remains coy, Parker, having been on a journey of self-discovery following her alcoholism, reveals her bisexuality at the same event where Drake Sapphire reveals his love for Daphne Hamilton, of the Sapphire's arch-rival Hamilton clan; the cumulative shock causes Richard to have a heart attack, leaving an opening for Steven to vie for the Sapphire throne. Richard is later jailed for his role in the Hamilton Gala fiasco, leaving a power vacuum. When the truth comes out about Sasha's "son" Bartley, Danielle turns her back on Sasha, seeing no use for her in her plans moving forward. With Richard incarcerated, the power couple begins orchestrating their deconstruction and takeover of the corporate world in Graceland, including being responsible for bringing Holly Greene to town (to further shake the unsteady Parker) and for the patent dispute that pits Forrester F&B against Morris-Teutul. Beginning to move against the Grace Corporation, Danielle is caught off-guard when her nephew Toby Grace extends an olive branch, inviting her and Steven to attend the Grace family reunion and be an involved part of the family. After being gifted a seat, along with the other children of William Grace I, on the Grace Corporation's Board of Directors, Danielle votes in confidence of Toby's position of CEO when called into question by her half-brother Cecil. When Steven wonders if she is reneging on their schemes of revenge, Danielle unconvincingly claims that she is gaining Toby's trust, and that it's more important for her, while pregnant, to take things slower. Danielle goes on to discover that half-sister Katilyn Grace is pregnant with the child of Wendy Grace's husband Kenny Washington; instead of revealing the news to Steven, Danielle keeps the information close, instead offering Kenny a supportive confidant. Danielle additionally reconciles her relationship with Sasha, who has married into the Grace family through half-brother Ryan. While Steven becomes acting CEO of Sapphire International following Parker's arrest as a suspect in the death of Dominick Landers, Danielle goes into labor, and their son Zachary is born healthily. Resting at home with Amanda and her newborn son, Danielle requests Kenny's help in planning her mother's upcoming appeal. Danielle's step-father Harry Wilder and maternal half-sister Sara Wilder arrive in town in support, to Danielle's chagrin, as she has worked hard to retain secrecy regarding her past. Step-mother Maggie Cyrus, recently married to Richard and suspicious of Danielle's actions, uses this to subtly pry Harry for information, creating a new rival for Danielle. With Kenny's help, the appeal is successful, and Gina is finally released from prison. Gina prepares to return home with Harry and Sara; sharing a tearful goodbye with Danielle, Gina presses her not to forget why she came to Graceland and to stay fast to her motivations: to seek revenge on every Grace who lived affluently while she suffered and persevered. As she and Steven plot how to remove Maggie as a threat, Danielle becomes torn between her prejudice against the Grace family and the fact that she has been begrudgingly invited into it. Category:Saving Grace